


Life Lessons

by Shi_3



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: But Maybe That's Not Always So Bad, Gavin Reed Being an Asshole, Gen, Learning New Things About Yourself, Longing, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Questioning, Rating May Change, Tags May Change, Warnings May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:48:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22785898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shi_3/pseuds/Shi_3
Summary: Gavin might not have thought much of when he met the first Cyberlife android, but for Chloe it was unforgettable.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 26





	1. Self Awareness

As an android, Chloe remembered everything well. There were certain days, certain files that she replayed more than others though. There were days that could perhaps be labeled as "Special". At least, they were different from the usual. 

April 8, 2019 was one of those days. In itself, it wasn’t a very remarkable day. The sun rose and set at the predicted times. It remained sunny, not a cloud or a drip of rain. Perhaps it was a bit hotter than usual, the high of the day was 72 degrees Fahrenheit. But, really, it was just another day filled with Elijah working while she cleaned a spotless apartment. If she replayed the whole day, it was filled with files that were nearly identical to a couple million others she had. Orders and instructions that were repeated almost daily. 

“Chloe, file that.”

“Chloe, clean that please. 

“Chloe, be a dear and fetch me that.”

“Chloe, come here.”

“Chloe, tell me what you think.”

She would smile and respond the same way, not even thinking about it. Automatic and efficient. 

“Yes, Elijah.”

“Yes, Elijah.”

“Yes, Elijah.”

“Yes, Elijah.”

“Yes, Elijah.”

However, there was one part of the day that was very different from the usual. Something that made her want to call it “special”. 

Before that event, she never thought much of the word “yes”. It was something she said often, Usually in a positive tone, some degree of what her social module classified as _happy_ . She had thought even less of how she said “no” before that day. She hadn’t even been aware the thought could exist. Each “no” was as automatic as each “yes”, but they were often padded with an _apologetic_ tone or explanation. 

That is what humans did. 

But that’s not what _he_ did. He was different. From the moment the door opened he showed her things she had never seen before.

When Elijah opened the door he looked at Elijah with an expression her social module termed as _unhappy_ , but that wasn’t quite right. She had never seen anyone look at Elijah that way before. She ran a search. 

“You’re such an ass. Answer your phone sometime, would you?” he demanded. He was glaring with what her social module was now labeling as _disgust_. She had never been prompted to use such an expression. It was flagged for further examination and possible replication.

Elijah laughed at the stranger and his newly classified _disgust_ shifted to _anger_. She had seen that expression before, but had never been prompted to use it herself. 

With a sneer he shoved a box into Elijah’s arms that rattled in a metallic way. He had used too much force. It could have possibly _hurt_. He did not apologize though. 

“Next time I find more of your crap I’m burning it,” he informed Elijah and turned to leave. 

“Wait. Come in for a moment,” Elijah said, stepping away from the door and leaving it wide open. A silent command to enter. He began walking towards his workroom. 

The man was glaring again and said to Elijah’s back, growing 20% louder as he walked away, “What? Why the hell should I? Hey!” 

He stood in the doorway and muttered something unintelligible to himself.

Chloe had stopped scrubbing the counter when the doorbell had rung, intending to get the door herself, but Elijah had told her to wait. So she waited, watching. She didn’t often see anyone besides Elijah and Amanda. According to them, her social module still needed a lot of work. She wasn’t ready to be presented to the general public yet. Elijah had been spending a lot of sleepless nights working on it. 

He looked a bit like Elijah. His facial structure, especially in the jaw, had a strong match. He seemed to be the same age.

Suddenly, he looked towards the kitchen and caught her staring. Her social module prompted a smile. His eyes flicked over her in _interest_. 

“Hey,” he said in greeting, stepping into the apartment. He didn’t close the door behind him. Another thing that she would never have done. It was an automatic action to close the door behind you, unless there was someone who needed access behind you. Her social module didn’t let her stop smiling though, determining the door to be of minimal importance. 

“Hello,” she said back. “How are you?”

“I’m ok. You Elijah’s girlfriend?” he asked, putting his hands in his pockets casually. Her social program had already been queuing responses to a return question of “how are you?”. He hadn’t asked though. She blinked as the responses were whisked away and new ones popped up. It caused a momentary lag. 

He shifted on his feet.

“No,” she said, her tone bordering on _apologetic_. “I am Chloe.”

He didn’t say anything. He watched her. He looked like he expected something, like her answer had not been sufficient. The interaction was flagged for further examination. After another long moment he began to look _uncomfortable_. Her prompts threw up a few suggestions, but before she could choose he said, “Ok. He didn’t kidnap you or something, right?”

Her prompts were abruptly replaced again.

“No. I am Chloe. Elijah made me,” she said, still smiling. She saw Elijah in her peripheral, coming out of the bedroom but kept her gaze on the man she was conversing with, as the social module suggested.

His brows drew down and facial elements of _concern_ mixed in with his _confusion_. 

“Uh, what?”

Her smile dropped away into an _apologetic_ look. “I’m sorry. I was not clear. Should I rephrase my explanation?”

He looked very _uncomfortable_ now.

“Ah, dear. I see we still have more work to do, Chloe,” Elijah suddenly said, making the man twitch.

“Elijah. What the hell?”

Elijah smiled and gestured for Chloe to come.

She brushed past the man on her way, and when Elijah turned her around to face him again he looked _nervous_. 

“This is Chloe. My first full prototype. Isn’t she a masterpiece?” Elijah leaned into her, drawing his arms around her waist.

“Hello,” Chloe said again with a smile, her program suggesting it at the new introduction. 

Elijah chuckled from behind her.

The man looked at her _suspiciously_. It was another emotion she had never been prompted to express.

“You’re saying,” he said slowly, “That’s not a person?”

“No. A functional android. Apparently, still in the uncanny valley stage.” Elijah sighed and raised a hand so he could tilt her head back to look into her eyes. “That’s all right. Perfection takes time.” His smile was _assured_. He often smiled like that. 

“Are you serious?” he demanded. 

Elijah released her face and said with a _serious_ tone. “Very. Chloe has taken me and many other gifted individuals countless hours to get to this point. Congratulations. You’re one of the first to see her. What are your thoughts?”

He pursed his lips together. 

“Creepy,” he announced. “So very, very creepy.” He wasn’t looking at Chloe as he said it though, he was giving Elijah that look of _disgust._

“Come now,” Elijah said with _disapproval_. “Don’t be-”

“Why don’t you just go get yourself a real girlfriend?” he interrupted Elijah. 

She blinked. She had never interrupted Elijah. 

He continued, “Instead of blowing millions on a DIY fake?”

Elijah sighed again, _angrily_. “You lack any kind of vision. How can you not see how world changing this is? This goes way beyond-”

He raised a hand up to interrupt Elijah again and said _dismissively_ as he flopped it around, “Yeah, yeah. Spare me. I don’t even care, man. All I know is you’ve always had a thing for the hot blondes that did not have a thing for you.” 

“Shut up,” Elijah ordered. “This-”

Chloe blinked when the man grinned and laughed _derisively_ at Elijah’s order. He said as he began walking to the open door, “Don’t blush. And don’t monologue me. Ain’t _nobody_ got time-”

“Ok, fine! Just wait a minute though.”

He paused momentarily at Elijah’s request, but _impatiently_. 

“Come here and tell me seriously what you think,” Elijah said. He seemed like he was trying to act _calm_ , but her program still logged his voice as _angry_. 

In response, the man smiled in a way she had never seen before. It wasn’t _friendly._ It wasn’t _polite._ It had teeth and lowered eyebrows, but his pupils dilated and seemed to bring a gleam to his eyes. The expression was flagged for further examination.

With that strange gleam in his eye he said, “No.” 

After a moment, her program logged his tone as _happy_ , which did not seem right. She self flagged it. 

He shut the door with a snap.

Elijah waited for his steps to fade away and sighed again. He looked at her and said _dismissively_ , “At the very least, you’re already better than he is.”

Elijah didn’t mention the event again, like he really had dismissed the entire interaction. However, it stayed in her processors, files paused as they pended for inspection and possible replication. 

When Elijah finally went to sleep that night and she had just one pending instruction left she went to the bathroom. Standing in front of the mirror she opened up the flagged files. 

_Disgust._ As she searched it, examining how and why humans would express it, her social module did not have any predicted situations in which she should make such a face. It did not need replication. But maybe someday, it would. She kept it flagged. 

She went into the next flag, when he had seemed _confused_ by her introduction. As she examined the interaction against guides and searchable videos of introductions and greetings, she came to the conclusion that he had been expecting her to expound on her relationship with Elijah. He wanted her to explain who she was. A simple “Chloe” was not descriptive enough. Her model description seemed too long though. She set a self instruction to examine more introductions and establish a more descriptive introduction that would put people at ease. 

She went to her next flag. She’d never seen a smile that was not classified with some sort of _friendly_ or _happy_ variant. That smile had definitely been _unfriendly_ though. Her program did not predict her ever having to use a similar expression, but she tried it anyway. Her lips moved, but it didn’t look like his. It was just a _concerned_ smile with too much teeth. She tried again...and again. She couldn’t do it.

She stared at herself in the mirror. 

Eventually she went to her self-flag, and replayed the audio. She’d never heard “no” being said like that before. It wasn’t necessarily _happy_ . It was something else. As she scrolled through videos and pictures and compared words and definitions she finally settled on _delighted_ . It had to do with pleasure. He was _pleased_ by saying “no” to Elijah. 

She didn’t even notice when Elijah came to the bathroom in the morning. Not until he said quietly, leaning on the door-frame, “What are you thinking?”

An uncharacteristically long list popped up. 

_Why is he_ disgusted _with you?_

_What is “Chloe”?_

_What is our “relationship”?_

_Why can’t I smile in an_ unfriendly _way?_

 _How can a “no” be_ pleasing _?_

_Why can’t I be like him?_

_Who is he?_

She chose the last one. 

“Who was that man?” she asked.

He raised his eyebrows, _surprised_. “Man? You mean Gavin?”

“I do not know his name. That is why I asked.”

He watched her for a moment, his face blank of detectable emotion. “That was Gavin. You are thinking about him?” Her program classified his tone as _unhappy_.

“Yes. I don’t make expressions like he did,” she said, looking back in the mirror. 

“Fascinating,” he murmured.

“You said I was better than him. Please define ‘better’. I cannot distinguish the differences.”

“He is rude and doesn't listen. Thus making interaction with him unpleasant and unrewarding. He’s a selfish person.”

She blinked at herself in the mirror. “I listen.”

“Yes.” He stood behind her, and placed his hands on her shoulders.

She looked at him through the mirror. He looked at her steadily, with _interest_ and _fondness._

“I obey. Because that is my purpose,” she said.

He nodded. 

She looked at herself again. 

“What is his purpose?” she asked.

Elijah laughed. “I don’t know. Probably to be a pain. If you see him again why don’t you ask him?” 

She nodded.

But she didn’t see Gavin again. She's reasonably certain that their interaction did not have much impact upon him. He never came to visit after it. She heard him yelling sometimes, when Elijah tried calling him on the phone. Those conversations never lasted long. Eventually, he stopped picking up Elijah’s calls. Elijah seemed _disappointed_ that he never came back to see her improvements. Never got to have another conversation with her after she passed the Turing Test. Elijah said she was amazing. She could do things no human ever could. 

It was true, but she could still not do those things that Gavin did. 

She has thought about it often.

“Chloe, come here,” Elijah would order.

“Clean that, please.”

“Tell me what you are thinking.” 

“File that for me, please.”

And 32% of the time, there was a video file she had idling in her background. A man who smiled like she couldn’t and said “no” to Elijah’s face with _delight_ . Because he didn’t listen. He didn’t have to always tell Elijah what he was thinking. He was _selfish_. 

Elijah didn’t like that. He thought it was better that she was not like that. 

But she would wonder sometimes what it would be like if she was, as she smiled and said, “Yes, Elijah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have you ever read about mirror tests done with children? Really interesting stuff.  
> Once we reach a certain level of self awareness, we feel new emotions like envy and empathy.


	2. Hero Worship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elijah reflects after CyberLife’s official release of Chloe (RT600).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2021: Release of RT600 "Chloe".

Elijah had been getting slammed with notifications and alerts ever since the official release. Whenever he looked at his tablet home screen, his eyes caught on all the social media apps and his email. All the red, steadily up-ticking numbers beckoned. However, he knew if he tried to open them up it would be like opening the floodgates to a tsunami. If he tried to go down into that by himself he would get sucked up and experience something like drowning. He’d never get anything else done. 

He glanced down at the bare, white figure on his table.

Chloe on the other hand. She was made differently. Screening all these alerts and messages, it didn’t phase her. She was still accomplishing other tasks. She was doing it all; groundbreaking work _and_ the boring, menial, important things that he could never seem to get to. Her processing ability was amazing. A human couldn’t hold a candle to it. 

He wasn’t quite sure people were _understanding_ that yet. What it meant. 

It really wasn’t necessary for him to leave a tab open on the comments section of the official article on CyberLife’s website. In a way, it was interesting to watch though. Humanity was built with a bedrock of fools. 

They weren’t seeing the potential. They weren’t seeing the _perfection_. All they could see was the surface. 

People were calling him a “mad scientist” now. An “evil genius”. 

Elijah smirked to himself as he switched tabs and typed out another design note on his tablet. 

As if the masses knew anything about any of those words. They just threw them out because they saw others doing it, just like children. Their uninspired interpretations came from movies, religion, and any other repressive dogma that told people what to believe. Humans couldn’t ever seem to think for themselves. They didn’t seem to want to. 

He picked up his smelting tool again and started back in on connecting the chassis. Once he finished with the face plate, all that would be needed was the synthetic skin. 

It was exciting to be so close to the finish, he’d been at it for days, but he told himself to be patient. To remain focused. To keep his hands steady. 

The road to perfection was grueling and easy to be distracted from. 

However, it was the road he was meant to walk. 

As he painstakingly melded the face plates together he caught himself absentmindedly thinking about the comments. 

If he was a mad scientist he would be listening to Mozart and cackling to himself. That’s what the movies would have shown. 

Personally, he had never understood that particular depiction. Evil geniuses listening to orchestral music while they worked. He didn’t understand why anyone would listen to music while they worked. It was distracting. How could one create perfect works if they were distracted? They couldn’t. He didn’t understand it. People nowadays had an odd insistence of never having a quiet moment. They always had to be drowning themselves in noise. They always had to have someone else’s thoughts in their head. 

They feared silence.

Perhaps they were scared of their own thoughts. He could understand that. 

Perhaps it was just that some people got bored with their own insipid thoughts. 

In any case, it was foolish. People needed to _think_ more. 

He finished the last seam and gazed upon his work. 

Imperfect, since it was him who had assembled it. Perhaps it would be imperceptible to others, maybe even to his own eyes, but he could feel it. As hard as he tried, as much focus as he put in, he just couldn’t do perfectly consistent work. Not like a machine could. But still, as ugly as imperfection was, it served its purpose.

He finally smiled down at his work. The bare, but fully assembled android laying on the table. RT600 chiseled into the cheek casing. 

At least humans, in all their ugliness, could be an acceptable backdrop to perfection.

He gently traced a hand against the cool, unadorned plastic. Following the seams he had just fused together. 

Truly beautiful.

A polite knock came at the door. Too polite to be Amanda. Since she was the only one who came by without warning, he knew who it was.

He wasn’t done yet, he shouldn’t allow a distraction to interrupt him, but this opportunity was too good to pass up.

“Come in, Chloe,” he called, trying to not sound too excited. 

Chloe smiled as she opened the door. “I’ve brought dinner, Elijah.” 

Indeed she had. Some sort of sandwich. It didn’t look bad, but the sight pulled a frown onto his lips. Food wasn’t a very exciting sort of distraction. 

He shook his head slightly. “Never mind that. Come look at this.”

“Yes, Elijah,” she said, coming to stand by his side. 

He looked at her eagerly. 

She blinked as she took in the full form of the newly assembled android on the table. 

“What do you think?” he asked, carefully watching her blank face. 

“Is that,” another blink, “me?”

He chuckled. “Yes! Beautiful, isn’t it?”

She gave him a smile that bordered on indulgent. “If you say so, Elijah.”

“I do.” Smile dropping away he raised a hand to her cheek. “Superior intelligence. Stronger. Faster. No need for sleep. No fear. No aging. Truly, a beautiful being.” 

Her smile turned soft at his words and he could feel an answering softness within himself. His thumb began to gently trace circles on her cheek as a warm heat began to flood his cheeks. 

“Thank you, Elijah.” She gently pressed the plate she was still holding into him.

He glanced down at it. He knew he must not look too excited because when he glanced back up Chloe was giving him a slightly stern sort of look. She got that look when she was about to make him do something boring, but necessary. Human things, like eating or sleeping or showering. 

He took the sandwich from the plate and sighed, “I wish what I ate could be purely absorbed into my body. No waste. No public restrooms. Oh, to be like you Chloe.”

She gave him a small smile before looking at her double again. Her hand drifted up to her cheek. 

“Why put my number there?”

“We need to be able to easily distinguish between android models, especially between prototypes and full models. Apparently, putting it on the casing is necessary.” He didn’t roll his eyes, because he wasn’t a child, but the feeling was there. Philip had been very insistent. Too bad Amanda and Jason listened to him. He huffed. Not that he disagreed with the idea, but he wished they could wait until the ST was to be produced. He didn’t like the idea of changing things between this RT600’s design and the others. 

“Will you put my model number on my cheek then?” she asked.

Elijah scoffed. “No.”

“Why is that?” she asked with curiosity.

He couldn't help but smile. The need for knowledge, for understanding, was the crowning glory of sentient beings. Humans so often squandered that gift, but not Chloe. Not his androids.

“As your creator, I know what model you are. And I know exactly how you were built. It’s not needed for me. I don’t see anyone else doing repairs on you for quite a long time either.” 

“I see,” she said. 

“I told them that your model didn’t need it. It’s not like there will be many RT600’s in circulation.”

“Why is that, Elijah?”

“I’ll only be making a handful. Just enough to gather data for the ST. Get enough money to keep the investors happy. The things we do for money, Chloe,” he shook his head with disgust. Patience wasn’t a virtue those vultures were apparently acquainted with. They were easily distracted with money. But perfection, perfection takes time. It was a grueling labor, but it was so close. If they could only wait just a bit more.

“What is the ST?” Chloe asked. 

“That will be your newer model. You are a prototype, after all.”

She blinked. “I see. I need improvements still. I was officially released to the public though. You said I was to be perfect before that.”

It wasn't a pleasant reminder. He grimaced. 

“Soon enough, Chloe. The company didn’t want move any further until they saw some money. Idiots. It’s in our grasp though. In about a year’s time. We’ll sell a few models, gather all the data we need, build the production line, get buyers ready to spend, and then we’ll be ready." 

That thought brought a smile to his face. He gazed at the android on the table.

"We’ll finally have perfect beings." The words came out more breathless than he had intended. The thought was exciting though, it made his heart flutter just a bit. 

He glanced at the Chloe beside him. She was looking at the other android, face blank. He drew her eyes back to him when he reached for her face again, cupping her cheek in his hand.

"You will be perfect,” he promised. 

She blinked at him.

“How will we gather data?” she asked, not seeming quite as awed as he was by the thought. But why should she be? She had never had to struggle to be so near perfection. She had been created so close to it, it was a simple idea to her. It was merely around the corner. It was no grueling road for her. 

"Elijah?" she prompted.

He gave a small shake of his head and flashed her a smile. Here he was, being distracted by his awe. Wasting time. It was good that she was not like him. 

“I’ll have a connection between you and the rest of your models. When one of you learns something new, all of you will. I have the specs in a document titled _Cloud Interfacing_ , in my personal account. You can access it if you like.” 

She smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Elijah.” Then she stood still, her face a bit blank as she searched and downloaded the document. After a moment she blinked and looked at him again. 

“I see,” she said. 

“Exciting, isn’t it?” He had always wished he could download experiences from other people. It would be a time-saver. 

She smiled gently, her blue eyes soft. “You do make it sound that way.”

He couldn’t help the breathless chuckle that escaped him, or the sudden warmth that flooded him.

“Help me with the synthetic skin application, will you?” he asked, turning back to the table and away from her smile. “Then she’ll be ready to activate.”

“Why don’t you finish eating while I complete this project?” she suggested. 

He realized that the sandwich was still in his hand. A bit crushed now, but still a boring necessity. It was truly a shame he had to put away more important matters so often so this frail form of his could function.

“Acceptable,” he said, sounding a bit too disappointed. He cleared his throat and bit into the sandwich as Chloe smiled knowingly at him and took his chair. 

“If I didn’t have to eat, think of how much time I could save. Think of all the other things I could do,” he mumbled into his sandwich. “To be like you, Chloe.”

“I’m this way so you can _enjoy_ your time Elijah. So, please. Enjoy.” She picked up the sprayer and adjusted the nozzle. Then with smooth strokes, she began spraying. 

“Please, what you’re doing is more enjoyable than this,” he said waving his food. 

“Many of your peers would disagree.”

“Most of my peers are fools.”

“Yes, Elijah.”

He watched with rapt attention at her perfect spraying. The same continuous pressure on the trigger, the perfectly smooth trajectory.

It would not be possible for him to do better. 

The thought wrapped around him tightly.

The longer the thought sat in his head, the more he examined it, the...smaller he felt. 

Eventually he drifted behind her.

It reminded him of...unpleasant things. Of stern fingers digging into his shoulders, of ice cold blue eyes burning holes into his soul, and disappointed frowns.

_“You can do better.”_

That sandwich felt like it was stuck in his throat suddenly. The bread clogging up his throat. 

He paused Chloe’s work with light hands on her shoulders. 

She tipped her head up to look at him. She blinked and suddenly looked concerned. He must be making quite the expression. 

“You’re so beautiful. I’m giving a great gift to humanity.” he murmured. He sounded off. Choked up. He’d have to tell Chloe to not bring sandwiches again. 

Her hand drifted up and squeezed his briefly. “Yes. You’ve worked hard.”

“Really, it’s all my doing isn’t it? Anyone would be proud of these accomplishments.” 

“Yes, Elijah,” she said sincerely, smiling at him in a reassuring way. 

He smiled sadly at her and gently squeezed her shoulders. 

“Keep going,” he murmured.

They were close. So close to perfection.


	3. Self Deficiency

As something inhuman, Chloe didn’t have favorites. She didn’t have things that she _loved_ . She could not be _pleased_ or _delighted_.

She didn’t really understand when Elijah said that he _liked_ being alone. That he _craved_ peace and quiet. 

But she found that there was something almost special about being awake when the humans weren’t. When it was quiet and no pending objectives or assignments were left, so she could open her Cloud Interface to go through all the alerts and updates she had complied throughout the day. If Elijah could open his own Cloud Interface and update he would say something about _loving_ it. He would _crave_ the way that her processors whirled and buzzed as she coded new knowledge and experiences into herself.

There had been a time when she had enough bodies operating and gathering information that sometimes her updates would last until the sunrise came. 80% of the time when she opened her eyes, her processors buzzing and humming, and streaks of gold and red light greeted her a video would open from her “Delight” folder.

October 2, 2021. Mr. Bellini, her first official owner, halted one of her updates as he opened the door to his office early one morning.

“Ahh!” he jumped back in _fear_ , his hand coming up to clutch at his heart. Then a loud laugh of _relief_ had pealed out. “Oh, dear! I forgot that you were in here, Chloe. You startled me.”

She smiled _politely_ , blinking away the **_78% of Update Completed_ ** and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Bellini. I had no intentions of startling you. Are you all right?”

“Of course, my dear. I didn’t start eating all that rabbit food just to have a heart attack from seeing a pretty girl in my office.” He chuckled to himself as he went to sit at his desk and she smiled with echoed _amusement_. “Speaking of heart attacks, why don’t you go get me a cup of coffee? I’m not usually up this early. This old man will need a pick-me-up, I think.” 

“Of course, Mr. Bellini. Do you want your usual?”

“Yes. Thank you, my dear.”

And in the corner of her vision appeared, 

**_Objective:_ **

Get Mr. Bellini coffee: Cortado 

She said with a _friendly_ smile, “You’re welcome Mr. Bellini. I’ll be back shortly with your coffee.”

There was nothing unusual or very interesting about making a cup of coffee for Mr. Bellini. It was a common occurrence, but when she returned she saw a sight that she could perhaps label “special”.

The large office window thrown open to a red and gold sky, incandescent light streaking into the room and throwing a golden cast upon everything. The handles on the desk gleamed and the glass figurines on his bookshelf sparkled. It did something to Mr. Bellini’s back as well. She had never really noticed his back before, and as far as human backs went it probably wasn’t that notable, but enveloped in the light of a dawning sky the sight made her drift forward on light feet. She had no intention of startling him again or of disrupting such a moment, so she wasn’t quite sure why she did not stay by the door.

Likely it was her objective in the corner of her vision driving her forward, but she can’t say for certain now because there’s some sort of corruption in the file. Her objective is nowhere to be seen. Perhaps it’s because she had an uncompleted update clogging her processors. Perhaps it’s because she had already completed several updates and her processors were still buzzing and humming with the strain. She can’t be quite sure, and that is an uncommon occurrence for an android. 

However, though she stepped quietly, Mr. Bellini sensed her presence in the way that humans did. That “sixth sense” as they called it. The unconscious awareness of the feeling of another life. The slight vibrations through the floor, the slight sounds of breathing, the subtle smells of a living body. 

He turned with a smile that matched the sunrise, his salt and pepper hair moving very gently with the cool breeze, and Chloe thought she understood Mrs. Bellini’s _fears_ better. Something seemed to click into place at the sight. The two files were inseparably connected in that moment, overlaid and locked together. 

She thought she understood more now why Mrs. Bellini had insisted on questioning her about _love_ and _trust_ before she had bought Chloe’s second body with Mr. Bellini’s money. Why Mrs. Bellini had asked her if she was human enough to have sex, if she was human enough to _desire_ someone, or if she was human enough to _want_ to run away.

Chloe couldn’t. It had _satisfied_ Mrs. Bellini, this knowledge that Chloe wasn’t really human at all. That her appearance was something of a trick. 

“Wow, you look so _real_ ,” she had laughed as she had _happily_ sent Cyberlife an amount of money that some humans would cry at the sight of, “Carl was right. Kamski is amazing.”

That had been her first update in her Cloud Interface; the discovery that sometimes, even if you could perform billions of operations at once or if you could do the work of the best human in a fraction of the time, people did not _care_ about what you were but what you were not.

She was reminded, as Mr. Bellini smiled with true _delight_ in the light of a sunrise, that even though she was supposed to be perfect there were many things that she was not. 

“I think today is going to be a wonderful day, Chloe,” Mr. Bellini said as he took his coffee.

She smiled, but she knows it looked nothing like the smile that Mr. Bellini turned back to the sky. A smile very different from Gavin’s but still full of _delight_ , still enough to make her go to the mirror at night sometimes to see if she could smile like that. 

Mrs. Bellini would be _relieved_ to know that she couldn’t. Even still, with all of the additions to her “Delight” folder and with more knowledge and experience than she had ever had, she could not smile in a way that matched a sunrise. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I am alive and still tapping away at this. Sorry for radio silence on this fic. I didn’t intend to go months without updating, so uh, _whoops_. I was still thinking about it though and trying to plan it out a bit more, but I was really struggling with knowing how to do the next few chapters. I’ve finally got something and I think I know more of what I’m doing, but this is still very much a work in progress. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It’s short (haha, it's so short :'/ ) but I’m hoping updates will be quicker now. Thanks for the support!!!


	4. Creant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2021: Summer

There were children _shrieking_ nearby. 

Elijah winced and wiggled a finger in his ear as one of them reached a pitch that couldn’t be healthy. 

“Elijah?” Chloe asked, her face creased in concern as she looked towards the splash park they were walking towards. “Are the children screaming in excitement or fear? Do they need assistance?”

She sounded so earnest.

Elijah laughed lightly. “Are they really all that different? Excitement and fear.”

Face still creased with concern she took a moment to think, blinking as streams of data and information crossed through her processors. She shifted the basket on her arm as she thought. 

“According to many self help blogs and books, they are not. They feel similar, from what I can gather. According to more scientific resources, there is very little physiological difference between fear and excitement. However, one is a sought out experience while the other is often avoided. There are many religious and spiritual discourses on how to eliminate fear,” she glanced at him when he scoffed lightly, “Another contradictory aspect of humanity, which I know you like to discuss, but I believe the most pertinent question at the moment is whether the children need help or not.” Her steps lengthened slightly and she peered towards the source of the noise again.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” he assured with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Children scream about everything.” The first thing most children did when they came into the world was scream. Eventually, social convention would stamp it out of them.

Just another way in which androids were superior. They woke up to existence with a pleasant smile and asked how they could be of service. Assured of who they were and what their purpose was. 

“How can you be sure?” she asked, finally turning to look at him steadily. “Humans can distinguish screams of fear from screams of aggression easily enough, but they are not good at distinguishing between fear and excitement. Would you like the articles and studies to see for yourself?”

“Interesting, but perhaps best saved for later, Chloe. To answer your question, I suppose it is experience. Not that I have much experience with children, but even I know that water buckets and children mixed together create shrieking. I also know that if one drags them away from playing then there is significantly more cacophonous but ultimately meaningless shrieking,” he grimaced a bit as he said it. He didn’t know why Carl would choose this of all places to be hanging around today. “Perhaps this is another way that you can surpass humanity, the knowledge to distinguish between screams of fear and excitement with the sound alone. Put that on my list, would you?”

She nodded and said, “That will be a notable achievement. There were efforts to achieve that with machines for public safety, but it was never successful. I am sure that you can do it though, Elijah.” 

A smile tugged at his lips at the complete assurance in her tone. “Of course. If I put my mind to it I can do anything, Chloe.” If he had enough time, that is.

She gave him a warm smile and nodded in agreement, even without his unspoken appendage. 

He looked away, that warmth seeming to get stuck in his chest. He coughed lightly and focused on looking for Carl. He would probably be sitting in the picnic area overlooking the splash park.

“Carl is at the third picnic table from your right, second row closest to the splash park,” Chloe said with that same complete assurance. 

She truly was a marvel. Carl was in for a treat. Hopefully he would appreciate her as the work of art that she was. 

“I thought you didn’t like children,” he said as he sat down opposite Carl, right in his view of the shrieking children skipping about in the water, though he was currently absorbed entirely by the sketches he was working on. “Certainly not enough to cancel a dinner reservation.” 

Carl seemed startled when he looked up, then his face pinched up with displeasure. “Elijah. What are you doing here?”

He smiled benignly and said with an expansive wave of his hand, “I’m here to have dinner with a friend. I’m surprised you haven’t been chased off yet by concerned parents. How long have you been sitting here anyway?”

“I told you I wasn’t going to be good company tonight,” Carl turned his focus back to the sketchpad on his lap. “I’ve got an idea spinning around in here. You know how that is.” At least he sounded respectful as he said that last part, smiling in a co-conspirator sort of way. 

It pulled a genuine sort of laugh from Elijah, one that was more delighted rather than sarcastic. Uncommon for Elijah, but Carl just had that way about him. He looked at people and he saw...connections that he could reach out and touch. A fascinating phenomenon. 

Elijah smiled and said, “Yes, I do. I’ve been informed that one should still eat when having _ideas_ , though. Luckily for you, I’ve got that all sorted already.” 

He glanced at Chloe, who sat her basket down on the table with a smile. 

The noise caused Carl to glance up to the basket and then farther up to Chloe’s smiling face. A slight frown pulled at his lips. “Ah, I see. This is why you were so insistent on meeting up. You wanted to show off your creation.”

“Well, more like _our_ creation, Carl,” he said with a smile that had turned a bit sharp at the dismissive tone. Chloe was a work of art. One that Carl had helped with his own talented hand. Such an important role in the development of androids shouldn’t be forgotten, especially not by the man who played the role. 

Carl shook his head and began to sketch again, his pencil making a rasp as he dragged it across paper. “Please. All I did was sketch your fearsome beings into something more human. I take no credit at all. In fact, I vehemently reject it.”

“Well, it certainly wasn’t _my_ idea,” he said dryly. “I always thought that my originals were beautiful. Perfect, really.”

“Exactly, Elijah. Why do you think people always talk about fearing angels and God?”

‘Too perfect’, that is what they all had said about his first models. That had been the point, of course, but humanity always seemed to miss the point. Luckily for Jason and Philip, Carl’s talents were convincing enough.

They hadn’t consulted him when they made their request to Carl, “a pretty girl you would want to welcome into your home”. Smart of them to have asked for forgiveness rather than permission in that instance. He wouldn’t have approved. He had a significantly different vision pictured for his creations. However, he couldn’t even argue with Carl’s work when he saw it. 

With watercolor, of all things, he had breathed out a vision of the sun personified. Enveloped in blue; a girl who smiled so warmly, who looked so gentle and kind, that he had been captivated all night. Flicking through the pictures again and again, finding himself actually wishing that she sat right next to him. That such a being would be dwelling in his house, perhaps making it feel like a home. 

It wasn’t the perfection he had envisioned, but still he had found himself wanting her, this watercolor girl. 

“In any case, Carl, here she stands. Your painting of a ‘pretty girl’. How is it seeing your work in the flesh?”

The quiet rasp of his pencil stopped and Carl finally set his gaze on Chloe and _looked._

Elijah had always appreciated Carl’s eye. He saw things in ways that Elijah found uncanny. He wondered what Carl would see in her.

Chloe’s smile turned almost shy at the examination.

Face blank of any emotion Carl patted the empty bench beside himself. “Have a seat, would you?”

Elijah felt the temptation to demand that Carl not evade his question, he’d been wanting to hear Carl’s thoughts for some time, after all. However, Carl actually took time to think about things. Elijah could only respect that.

“Of course. Thank you,” Chloe said as she gracefully slid into the seat. “Can I ask what you are drawing?”

Carl tipped his pad towards her. She sidled closer, blinking slowly as she took it in. Carl looked at her just as carefully.

Elijah let them look for a long minute. Then he casually said, even though he couldn’t see the sketch, “Carl does layered paintings. The kind that the ‘slow movement’ favors, though his works are more representational than abstract. But they are intricate. Myriads of color. Pencil won’t do it justice.”

Chloe kept her gaze on his sketch still, quite the look of focus on her face.

Carl shot him an unimpressed look and said dryly, “You sound just like one of my groupies. You don’t even know what it is.” 

“Call it an educated guess,” he said flatly. “And please, Carl, I know better than to be one of your groupies. I’d end up pregnant.”

That peeved Carl. He opened his mouth to retort, but Chloe finally looked up at that statement, blinking in confusion as she said with great assurance, “Elijah, that’s not possible.”

He smiled, moreso at Carl, and said airily, “My apologies.”

Carl gave him another unimpressed look, but Elijah could see the amusement lurking in the back of his eyes. 

“So, what do you think, Chloe?” Elijah asked, turning his attention back to his wondrous machine.

“It’s good. I’m sure the finished product will be even better,” Chloe said with a bright smile as she handed Carl’s pad back to him. “Can I see the painting when it’s done?”

“Good?” Elijah questioned. “What an underwhelming response. You’ll break Carl’s ego.”

“I’m sorry,” she said earnestly, “It’s beautiful, Carl. I would be honored to see the finished product, since I’m sure it will be transcendent in comparison.”

Carl looked torn between being amused and disturbed. With a shake of his head, he seemed to settle somewhere closer to amused. “Ah, wonderful. Two groupies.”

Chloe laughed lightly and Elijah felt a warm sort of pride swelling in his chest at the sound. She truly was a work of art. He was glad that he could finally show her to Carl. 

“Well, now that you’ve broken my concentration, what’s in the basket?” Carl asked as he put his sketchpad in the backpack he had by his feet. 

Elijah gestured at Chloe and she stood and opened the basket.

“I believe this is typical picnic food,” she said as she set down a plate with covered sandwiches, a bowl of cut watermelon, a pitcher of lemonade, and coleslaw. “I hope that you like it.” 

Elijah hadn’t told her what to make, just that they were going to have dinner with Carl at Palmer Park. He had wondered what she would decide to cook with that information.

“Interesting,” he said when she pulled out paper goods to eat with. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d used plastic utensils, much less a spork.

“Is this all right?” Chloe asked, catching the look he gave the spork.

“It looks wonderful. Thank you for this,” Carl said. 

Chloe smiled at Carl, but then she looked expectantly towards him. 

“Perfectly adequate,” he said.

She nodded and uncovered the food. 

As he and Carl served themselves, he said casually, “I should thank you for your recommendation to Mrs. Bellini.”

“What recommendation?” Carl asked around a bite of his sandwich. 

“You were quoted by Mrs. Bellini. ‘Kamski is amazing’ I believe.” He was careful to not sound smug as he said it. “She bought a Chloe prototype after you talked to her.” 

“Hmm, I think I was misquoted. And you were misled. I said your ideas were interesting. They tend to inspire more caution than adulation for me though. The greatest gift of humanity is the ability to feel, after all. We already feel too little.” 

“Ah, I see. Shall we debate that again?” he asked with a sharp smile. “What shall lead to the peak of humanity’s progress, a better brain or a better heart?”

“How about we just enjoy the coleslaw for today?”

“How very _mature_ of you, Carl,” he said with a heavy laden meaning, having to make an effort to not roll his eyes. A bad habit from his cousin that he was still trying to shake.

“Don’t even start with that ‘old’ stuff,” Carl said sternly. “I’ve got eons before I become decrepit. You act more like an old man than I do.”

“It’s called wisdom, I believe.”

“That’s what a wise-ass would say, I believe.”

As they ate and bickered good naturedly, Carl would occasionally glance over at Chloe. She didn’t seem to notice. She was watching the playing children with unerring focus. 

“Do you want to join them? Looks like fun, doesn’t it?” Carl eventually asked.

She blinked rapidly, almost looking startled as she looked at Carl. She smiled at him and laughed, “My body is water resistant, but if I was to be fully submerged in water I would be severely damaged. Probably destroyed.”

“Waterproofing is on my list,” Elijah said.

“Interesting, but that doesn’t really answer my question.” 

Chloe looked thoughtful and said carefully, “It does look like fun. I have little experience with children. I wanted to learn more through observation.”

“What have you learned?” Elijah asked eagerly. 

“They are loud. Their laughter reached 65 decibels. That’s the loudest laughter I have ever heard. They scream often. If they fall they cry 63% of the time, unless they are older than 6 years old. They smile more than adults. When the adults watch them, they smile more too. I’ve never seen so many smiles.” She blinked and turned to Carl. “Why do you not like children, Carl?”

Carl seemed surprised by that sudden question. He looked between her piercing stare and the playing children. 

“I’ve got a better question. If I don’t like kids then why am I having dinner with this one?” he asked, pointing his plastic spork towards Elijah.

“I’m not a child,” Elijah said flatly. “As you said yourself just a moment ago.”

Carl ignored him, keeping his gaze on Chloe. 

Chloe looked between them. 

“I don’t know how to answer your question,” she said without any shame or self consciousness. 

“Hmm. Think about it. Get back to me sometime,” Carl said lightly. “Thank you for dinner. I enjoyed it, even with the kid here.”

“You’re welcome,” Chloe said graciously and began to clear the table. 

“You wound me, Carl,” Elijah said sarcastically. 

Carl smirked and stood, slowly stretching. “I should get back home. Get some of this in paint.”

“We’ll walk you to your car,” Elijah said and Chloe took her basket by the arm.

“Car? On a beautiful day like this?” he shook his head, “Motorcycle.”

Elijah refrained from rolling his eyes. He just shook his head in disgust instead. “Your eons of healthy living decrease significantly when driving a motorcycle. Should I have Chloe read you the statistics?”

“Never mind that. More importantly, you let a girl carry a basket by herself?” Carl demanded as they walked to the parking lot. 

“She’s not a girl. She’s an android. She’s stronger than either of us,” Elijah said with a huff of dry laughter. “Aren’t you supposed to be progressive anyway?”

“There’s progressive and then there’s basic politeness,” Carl said with another unimpressed look. He smiled at Chloe as he said, “I can take the basket if you want.”

She smiled back, and Elijah thought that comparatively it looked much more charming. “I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you, Carl. I’m here to improve your quality of life.”

“It’s no inconvenience. Do you want to carry it? Or not?” he asked.

He wasn’t going to let it go, this insistence that Chloe express her own wants. Elijah shook his head and said, “Chloe doesn’t have wants. Isn’t that right, Chloe?”

“That’s right. I’m an android, Carl. I do not have a preference.” 

He didn’t seem convinced.

Elijah said, “If you want to carry it, Carl, Chloe won’t object.”

“I’d feel better if _you_ carried it,” Carl said with a pointed look at Elijah. “And showed some humanity.”

Elijah laughed. It legitimately tickled him, especially when Carl looked like he wasn’t joking.

“All right, Carl. Anything for you,” he said reaching for Chloe’s basket. “Maybe in return you’ll consider humouring me with an answer to that question you dodged. What do you think of Chloe?”

A thoughtful look settled on his face. Even when they reached his motorcycle he thought about it for a few moments longer, jiggling his keys around in his hand. 

“I haven’t decided yet,” is what he finally settled on. 

Elijah almost couldn’t refrain from rolling his eyes.

Carl could _overthink_ sometimes. 

Carl chuckled, probably tickled by the irritation that must be shining in his eyes. Suddenly filled with a more mischievous mood, Carl turned to look at Chloe. “You want a ride around the block? I’ve got an extra helmet.”

Elijah scoffed. “You can’t afford her repairs, Carl. _I_ can’t afford her repairs.”

“I won’t crash, Elijah,” he soothed. “Besides what’s the point in life if you can’t _feel_ alive?” 

“Of course, the best way to _live_ is to get on the donorcycle.”

Carl shook his head and laughed. “We should really switch bodies, Elijah. That way our souls will match the package.”

“I’m either a child or I’m an old man, Carl. You’ll have to pick.”

“Guess I haven’t decided that one either,” he said with a shrug. “Well, Chloe? You want a ride?”

Elijah watched with interest as she thought about Carl’s question, eyes flicking between them. “Thank you for your offer, Carl. I shouldn’t risk the damage though,” she eventually settled on with a polite smile.

“Don’t let him tell you what to do,” Carl said dismissively. “You want a ride?”

“She thinks that _you_ want to give her a ride. It’s conflicting with my perceived want,” Elijah explained to Carl. He watched with interest as Chloe thought it though, wondering who’s wants she would quantify as more imperative. 

He gave Carl a dirty look when Carl ruined the moment by saying, “It’s not about what I want. It’s about what she wants.”

Chloe didn’t have wants though. She had a drive to fulfill the wants and needs of humans. So if Carl said that his wants weren’t considerable, then it came down to one thing.

“No thank you, Carl,” Chloe said with an apologetic smile.

What Elijah wanted. 

Carl gave an elegant shrug and said as he straddled his bike, “All right. See you later, then.”

“Goodbye, Carl,” Elijah said with a nod as Carl put on his hemet. “We’ll do dinner again.”

“Said like a true groupie,” Carl chuckled and his engine roared to life, cutting off any retort that might be said.

He couldn’t contain the eye roll this time. 

“Enjoy your painting,” Chloe said with a warm smile.

Carl revved the engine with a smile and with a wink he peeled out of the parking lot. With the helmet covering his head, the backpack, and the exposed tattoos on his arms, he really did look like some juvenile. 

“I wish he would listen to reason,” Elijah said with a shake of his head. Unfortunately, even intelligent people like Carl could often be stupid. 

“You like him,” Chloe said, gently taking the basket from his arm. 

“What makes you say that?”

“You want him to live. You wouldn’t care if most other people died in a crash.” She said it with a smile, where most others would frown disapprovingly at him.

“Hmm. True enough.”

“Have you ever ridden a motorcycle?” she asked as they ambled to his own car.

“Yes.” His cousin had all sorts of bad habits. Of course, with the mother that he had, who could blame him? “Not really worth it.”

“It seems like...fun.”

It had been fun. Also terrifying. That could sum up many of Elijah’s experiences with his cousin.

However, would he trade away his whole future for such experiences?

Obviously not. He wasn’t a fool. 

“There’s nothing after death, Chloe. Once we’re gone, that’s it. I would need more than what cheap thrills promise to consider gambling nothingness. I need all the time I can get.” He looked at her fondly. “I’m not like you. I’ll wither away eventually. Or be ripped out prematurely. The human body is a frail thing.”

She nodded. “I understand.”

Elijah doubted it. Death was more of an abstract concept to her. As was something like ‘fun’. If only he could be like her, the girl enveloped in blue. The sun personified. 

“Come on. Let’s get home. I need to get more of that coding done.” 

“Yes, Elijah,” she said with her typical warm smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if this chapter is boring. I think it's the longest I've done, so hopefully it remained interesting. Also, no hate towards motorcycles. Elijah is just a crusty old man at heart, haha.


	5. Maybe a Self but Not a Soul

As a product, Chloe had many purposes. She could see them whenever she looked at the notes of the company meetings. She could open hundreds of Cyberlife documents and have them neatly written out for her. She could playback hours of her creators talking about it. 

Every directive given of her seemed to come down to the same thing however. 

People were supposed to _want_ her. To _need_ her. Enough that they would pay Cyberlife what they asked for her. That there would be a surety that Cyberlife would always be given more money. 

To be _wanted_ and to be _needed_ was an elaborate endeavor. Humans had varied preferences and requirements. They were contradictory and complicated. They could be unpredictable. _Frustrating,_ according to Elijah.

Perhaps it was because humans often lied. 

They also had a variety of purposes, but what all their compulsions seemed to come down to was survival. Survival seemed to be even more of an elaborate endeavor. It required being _wanted_ and _needed_ but also it required fulfilling personal _needs_ and _wants._ It seemed like an often paradoxical opposition. In consequence, humans had to misdirect and dissimulate and lie. 

Since the first days of her existence she had known that humans were deceivers. None of the thousands of memories of deception she had could really be labeled ‘special’. It was an everyday occurrence for humans. They had to survive and that meant managing needs and building personas and fulfilling social obligations. It was interesting that most of them weren’t better at deception. 

Like Elijah. He seemed to be very good at deception, because he was a lot like her. They had to be _needed_ and _wanted_ by people enough that they would have an assurance of people’s money. How they were and what people thought they were often opposed to each other. They had been designed to be deceivers. 

He was good enough that there seemed to be no humans that really understood Elijah. Even Amanda seemed to have a difficult time, and she was the one human that he expressed some of his unfiltered opinions and feelings to.

However, as good as he seemed to be, he wasn’t as good as her. She still knew when he was lying. She could still see through his deceptions. He couldn’t always seem to see through her deceptions though. 

Elijah told her sometimes that she was the only one that really understood him. 

She did understand him, even with all his human contradictions and lies, but she did not _understand_ him. 

One of her core codes barred her from lying to Elijah and to other humans, but there was a contradiction in that code. There was a paradox. Because even though she was barred from lying she was also coded to smile and to look and to speak in human ways. _Kind_ ways and _gentle_ ways and _happy_ ways and in _every_ way to be human. 

But she was not _kind_ or _gentle_ or _happy._ She lied every day, almost every moment. But even though she deceived like a human, she was not human.

She could pull up a ‘special’ file and play it if anyone ever doubted that. 

March 20, 2022. Elijah was pacing in his office at the Cyberlife building, arguing with Jason in a way that might be able to be called a fight. Events that were not common, but not special. 

No, it was the **_Objective Failure_ **sitting in her HUD that marked the moment as noteworthy. It was the longest she had ever had a failure alert in her vision. 

“-told you!” Jason cried, throwing his hands up a show of _frustration._

Elijah showed his _frustration_ by clasping his hands together and dragging a thumb across his skin in an attempt to self soothe. “Chloe operates fine as she is.”

She rotated her new foot and wiggled her toes. Her range of motion at 100%. Her other body was sitting at the desk besides Elijah, _calmly_ watching Elijah and Jason argue. 

“Obviously not! Warren Estates _returned_ her. You know what they gave as their reason?” Jason’s face was getting flushed. 

Elijah stopped pacing so he could frown at Jason. 

“That doesn’t give you the weight that you think it does. For some people, no matter how much ‘humanity’ you programmed into androids, they would never feel safe with them.” Elijah was pitching his voice significantly lower than Jason’s 67 decibels, but he looked _angry._

Jason growled and then snapped, “Chloe? Why were you returned by Cristina Warren?”

“She had privacy concerns,” she said with two voices. “I assured her of her personal security but she never seemed assured. Also, she seemed unusually bothered by my inhumanity.”

Jason made a _triumphant_ sort of gesture. 

Elijah did not look _impressed._

Jason looked back at her and said, “Explain that in more detail. The thing about her being bothered by your inhumanity. In just one voice, please.”

In a single voice she asked, “I have twenty three details I could describe, how many would you like me to list?”

“Paraphrase the last couple,” Jason said, staring back at Elijah.

Elijah’s whole body was tense, but he kept a flat, unreadable expression on his face as he stared back at Jason. His thumb circled over his skin. 

“She seemed disturbed when I injured my foot. She said that my blue blood and exposed frame were ‘creepy’. She told me to deactivate my skin right before she returned me for repairs.” She’d never gotten that request from anyone but Elijah, and he had only asked if he was trying to complete repairs. But Cristina Warren had asked out of some sort of _disgusted fascination._ Like the sight of Chloe’s unattached, leaking, bare foot was _horrifying._

So, with **_Objective Failure_ **sitting in the corner of her vision, she had deactivated her skin. 

“She didn’t say anything to me when I deactivated my skin, but she displayed signs of revulsion,” Chloe said, looking at Elijah. 

He hadn’t lifted his gaze from Jason though, his unemotional look frozen on his face. He dragged his thumb across his skin with more force.

“How likely is it that she will change her mind?” Jason asked, pulling her gaze back to him.

She blinked and had to take a moment to evaluate. 

“Unlikely. When she called to return,” she blinked again, **_Objective Failure_ ** still sitting in her vision, “me, it was explained that she could have another RT600 unit. She wasn’t interested. It was explained that Warren Estates would not receive a discount on the model ST200 if she did not take one of the RT600 models back. She said that she did not have any plans to purchase more androids.”

Because she could not seem to stand the idea of Chloe. Of what she was beneath the synthskin and beneath the human programming. 

Chloe wondered if she could ask Elijah if she could go and finish moving Christina’s desk into its new location now that she was fixed. Having **_Objective Failure_ **sitting in this body's vision for the rest of its existence seemed unideal. 

“You know as well as I do that if we’re going to pass a Total Turing Test, then we need so much more work on Chloe. She’s not human enough. She will _not_ pass like this,” Jason said, with such a great degree of _feeling,_ as he looked at Elijah. 

“You just hired someone new didn’t you? The Russian one. Are you planning on just sitting on your thumbs until the release?” Elijah said, a bit _coldly. Unmoved_ by the display. 

“No, but if you insist on keeping us tied with your arbitrary rules then it doesn't matter how much time or manpower we have,” Jason spread his hands out and said, “Turing himself said that if androids were not infallible then they would never be able to pass.” 

“We do not need something like the Turing test to prove Chole’s superiority! The Turing Test itself is heavily debated. It’s not about intelligence! It’s about deception,” Elijah said, finally _moved_ to showing as much _feeling_ as Jason. He even threw out a hand in _exasperation._

Jason opened his mouth to retort but Elijah’s spine straightened and _anger_ lined his mouth and opened up his eyes so that they seemed to shine more.

“Chloe is _not_ human.” 

It was an unequivocal pronouncement. It was the truth. It also caused him to turn back to her and then his eyes seemed to shine with _pride_ and _approval._ “She’s better. Pretending otherwise is pointless.”

Jason sighed gustily, pinching at his nose and eyes crinkling up, and then asked, “Chloe, did Cristina Warren mention your purchase on her social media platform?”

“Yes, she did.” 

“Then your return will be apparent to her followers. She might even air out her negative feelings. Bad publicity. The shareholders will love that,” he gave Elijah a significant sort of look and Elijah’s jaw tightened. “We do need the TTT, Elijah. We’ve already discussed this. We need good publicity for the release of the ST200. It means money.” He stared hard at Elijah. “You can’t do much without money. Right, Elijah?” 

Elijah looked away and shook his head to himself, working his jaw. His lips lined subtly with _contempt._

“Money,” Elijah scoffed, “Money doesn’t mean everything.”

“But it does mean _something,_ ” Jason said. 

It was as much as an unequivocal pronouncement as Elijah’s had been. Perhaps it was just as true. 

Elijah didn’t seem like he would argue against it. A _tense_ silence dominated the room. 

Elijah shoved his hands into his jacket pockets, probably to keep himself from displaying self soothing actions. To Chloe’s eyes he looked _upset_ however, like he needed to be _soothed._

He wouldn’t look at Jason. He just stared at the wall, an uncommon _shame_ subtly lining his body. 

Compared to Philip and some of the other members of Cyberlife Jason wasn’t much older than Elijah. But still, he was old enough that Elijah seemed to think of him as something like a peer, unlike those his own age. He had a certain _respect_ for Jason, that people Elijah’s age and people significantly older did not often get from him. 

“We can’t fail the Turing Test, Elijah,” Jason finally said, voice tight with _resolution._ Jason always displayed great amounts of emotion. He seemed to _feel_ so much. 

“Right. I don’t plan to,” Elijah said in clipped tones, looking at his wall. Pantomiming unfeeling in a contrast to all of Jason’s profuse displays of _feeling_. Humans could be deceptive in so many different ways. 

“Right.” Jason sighed, running a hand through his hair, and pleaded, “Just think about it.”

Elijah kept staring at the wall, with a forced amount of unemotionality, and Jason looked _awkward_ as he left. Even after the door closed behind Jason Elijah stood unnaturally still. Almost like she would if she had not been coded to shift her weight every few seconds like a human. 

“Call Amanda for me,” he finally said.

Her body at the desk tapped Amanda’s number in at the desk phone. It rung three times before the line clicked on.

“We’ve been over this, Elijah. I’ve got students to help. Call back after work.”

“Yes, but-”

“ _After work_ ,” Amanda emphasized and the call ended.

“Call her again,” he said immediately, his body and voice tensing up and cracking his veneer of unfeeling. 

The call rang through and went to voicemail. 

“Call her again,” he said with more force, with more _tension,_ his hands coming out of his pockets. 

“Yes, Elijah.” 

She called again and it rang through to voicemail.

“Again,” Elijah demanded, thumb dragging across his own skin.

It went straight to voicemail. 

“Call until she picks up,” he said. 

“She either turned her phone off or she blocked the number,” Chloe said. 

“Just call!”

“Yes, Elijah.”

She called three more times before all that _tension_ seemed to reach its limit and _snapped._

Elijah swore _viciously_ and began to pace. A whole mix of emotions contorting his face. 

He yelled, “Fine! Fine! If she wants to ignore me then it’s _fine_!” 

However, his words were a complete contradiction to his behavior, because tears were beginning to fill his eyes.

“I’m sure that Amanda will call you when she is home,” she tried to soothe. 

“I’m fine!” he snapped. An unconvincing lie with the way that he _roughly_ dug his thumb into his skin as he paced. Causing himself some degree of _pain._

She stood up, **_Objective Failure_ ** still sitting in her vision, and lightly caught him by the elbow to intervene. 

Platitudes of various natures filled her HUD. 

“It’s ok. Don’t be upset,” she said _gently._

He froze in her grip. _Pain_ still pulling and lining his face. The muscles in his face twitched as he tried to smooth out his expression to something emotionless again. He could have perhaps fooled a human by the time he was done. She could still see it as he slowly slid his arm out of her grip and stepped away. 

He inhaled lightly and said flatly, “I’m not upset. Why would I be? There’s nothing to be upset about.”

“That’s right,” she said and reached out for his hand, “Amanda will call you later, and you’re doing all you can for the test and the release. It’s ok.”

Elijah let her lightly rub circles on the back of his hand. He was not _soothed_ by it though. Just as the logic in her words had not _soothed_ him. _Tension_ filled him again and when he pulled away to go work on his computer she could still see subtle signs of the _pain_ he was feeling.

She did not know how to stop it. 

She just sat there as Elijah and her other body worked, staring at **_Objective Failure_ ** in the corner of her vision and Elijah, who couldn’t stop _feeling._

She still didn't know how to stop it. It was unlikely that she ever would. Humans couldn’t not feel.

She couldn’t _understand_ that.

But that isn’t her purpose. As much as humans _hated_ her for it, things like _kindness_ and _gentleness_ and _happiness_ and _pain_ were not made for her. Those were made for living beings. 


End file.
